A village doctor in rural Beijing

My “social stratification” class visited a village just 1.5 hours north of Beijing today. I asked if there was a doctor in the village, and our local guide, a freshman in high school, took us to this elderly doctor who, we were told, gives quite the painful shots! Dr. Liu has been practicing medicine all his life. He was a barefoot doctor in the days of Mao. And now, in his 60’s, he continues to run a small clinic in his home. He’s on call at all hours and often gets up in the middle of the night to bike to a sick individual. Many poor families call on him for help, since the hospitals in the city are too expensive. Being a village doctor doesn’t make much money , but he does it because he owes it to Mao, who gave him an education from the best of Beijing’s doctors, at no costs. His son studied medicine too, but recently moved to the construction industry. One doctor in the family is enough, it’s too hard and there’s no money, especially for the young people.